Technology has broken down many of the distance barriers previously encountered by business and society in general. Global communication has provided unprecedented immediacy of information in most forms. This has provided a corresponding level of exposure of cultures and events. While much of the communication which takes place is in the universal language of images, there remains a large segment of communication and correspondence which requires various levels of translation.
Computer technology has made possible electronic processing of information in a variety of languages, which includes electronically assisting in the translation of language. Many devices have been devised to assist in entering international information into documents, and creating documents which are not in the native language of the user creating the document. These devices are rigidly designed utilizing a self-contained unit of software. In other words, the use of the translating equipment is limited to the software itself. This inflexibility leads to a somewhat limited use of the equipment, and correspondingly limits the supported environments.
In environments where a user inputs information, there is a need for a more flexible structure to overcome the limitations discussed above with respect to language processing.